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Too often, students of Scripture dismiss difficult texts by separating the culture of the biblical era from what they consider the real ”message” of the biblical story—but this is a fallacy. Empirically, the text—the letters and words inscribed on the page—are the message. The rule of Matthew precludes the addition or subtraction of anything from this inscription.

If the message in your head does not recount every letter of Hebrew and Greek in the entire Bible, it’s not the biblical message. So when Scripture deals with Roman culture, like it or not, Roman culture is part of the package. When we attempt to sift it out, the Gospel becomes unintelligible.

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In the Gospel of Matthew, knowledge of Scripture determines the value of a Levitical priest. What are the specific rules of Leviticus and what do they mean? What is the priest commanded to do when he encounters a leper? What does the Levitical sign of skin disease teach the priest about the household of Abraham?

In the story of the leper’s healing in Matthew 8, Jesus demonstrates the answer to these questions through his obedience to the rule of Leviticus, placing accountability for the plight of the outcast squarely on the shoulders of “Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests.” (Leviticus 13:2)

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As teachers and students, we delude ourselves with abstraction. How many of us, instead of teaching the words of the Bible, offer a cheap summary or moral extraction to get at (what we call) the gist of the story? How often have you heard someone talk and talk and talk about God for hours without following the storyline of Scripture, in English, let alone the original languages? How often? The King James Bible contains 783,137 words. There is no gist. There are only “these words.”

“Everyone,” Jesus explains, “who hears these words of mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.” (Matthew 7:26)

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It’s unclear how or when the phrase “I love you” became the sacrosanct rubric of America’s devolving mating rituals, but it did. In the place of duty, honor, and commitment, we peddle the fake importance of a self-involved, emotionally insecure obsession with three words that represent a hormonal response. Even if you think you disagree, you know its true. Your spouse can say, “I love you” until they’re blue in the face. It is meaningless if their behavior says otherwise. Enter Matthew 7. Jesus does not care if you say, “I love you.” The world does not stop spinning and it is not an apocalyptic sign that now you are truly his disciple. No way. Human words are cheap. You are only his disciple when you act like it.

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Priorities control a person’s speech. If a pastor’s goal is to share the words of the Bible, he will speak the words of the Bible. If his goal is to grow his parish, he will add to (or subtract from) the words of Scripture to appeal to his target audience, ignoring the Lord’s warning in Matthew 7:6 to protect what is holy. In Matthew, this kind of teacher is singled out as a false prophet, easily identifiable, Jesus explains, by the content of what is taught and by its outcome.